Baseball

Ryan Murphy Among Nominees for Lowe's Senior CLASS Award

Mar 10, 2008

March 10, 2008

Providence, RI -
Brown senior captain Ryan Murphy (Mantoloking, NJ) has been named one of 30 candidates for the baseball division of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Presented annually to NCAA Division I student-athletes in eight sports, the award focuses on the "Four C's" of classroom, character, community and competition and is presented to the outstanding senior student-athlete in each sport.

An Economics concentrator with a 3.67 GPA, Murphy finished 16th in the country last season with a .410 batting average. He was named First Team All-Ivy and All-New England, and Second Team All-Northeast after the season, and earned All-Tournament honors at the NCAA Round Rock Regional.

Murphy's outstanding statistics and postseason honors were evidence of his strong work ethic to improve over the course of his career. In his four years, he has worked from making his way into just three games as a pinch runner his freshman year to becoming a fixture in left field and hitting second in the order for the 2007 Ivy League Champion Bears.

An acronym for "Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School," the award was launched in 2001 to honor the attributes of college basketball seniors who fulfill their entire athletic eligibility and pursue their degree. Since that time, Lowe's, an official corporate partner of the NCAA, has expanded the award to include other NCAA sports, including baseball. This marks the second year for the baseball division of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. University of Alabama infielder Emeel Salem was the inaugural winner in 2007.

From the list of 30 nominees, a national media committee will select 10 finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in mid-April 2008. Those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote that will include coaches, media, and fans. The award winner will be announced and recognized at the 2008 NCAA Men's College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

Sportscaster Dick Enberg, Honorary Chairman of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, first conceived the idea of an award for seniors in 2001 in response to the growing trend of men's basketball players leaving school early for the NBA.

Lowe's has since expanded the Senior CLASS Award program to include men's hockey, men's lacrosse, baseball, softball and men's and women's soccer.